


The Avatar of Spike Brothers

by SidewaysRiku99



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Action, F/M, Gen, Original Character(s), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27102025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SidewaysRiku99/pseuds/SidewaysRiku99
Summary: Asuma Kujito was planning to be a star athlete, until he suffered an injury that puts his dreams out of reach. Then one day he finds a new game, and a new passion. How will Asuma translate his on-field skills to Vanguard, and how will his inclusion affect Team Q4 and their rise to the top? (A/N: This is a repost of my fanfic from FF.net and as such has some out of date notes in it, hope you guys enjoy anyway!)
Relationships: Sendou Aichi/Tatsunagi Kourin, Tokura Misaki/Original Male Character
Kudos: 2





	1. A New Avatar?

Avatar of Spike Brothers

**A/N: Obviously I don’t own Vanguard. I decided to write this upon finding out that there was to be a reboot of the original series, as a type of tribute to the original, which is one of my favorite anime ever, and one that got me through some rough times in middle/high school, as well as to my favorite clan, Spike Brothers.**

Chapter 1: A new challenger approaches?

“You’ll never play again.” Those were the words that haunted Asuma’s every waking moment, the words that never seemed to give him space to think about anything else, or even to breathe. They were the words he heard when he watched his former teammates practice, when he looked in the mirror, when he ran mile after mile, just trying to escape the memories. He didn’t want to remember, but it didn’t seem to matter. The thoughts came unbidden, of that day. The day he was supposed to lead his team to victory, to the top of the tournament. But then, he got caught off guard, for one play. He was too busy looking downfield to see the defender approaching, and when he was driven to the ground, more than just the ball went flying: his helmet, mouthguard, and though he didn’t know it, his future on the field. It was simple, really. This chapter of his life was over, and there was nothing he could do about it. But little did he know, another chapter was just about to start, as the paged was turned almost of its own accord.

Asuma was out for a run one day, as usual. His reflection was his only company, his purple hair, gray t-shirt and black shorts reflected in the buildings of the city as he passed. No one else seemed to be on this route today, until he crossed paths with a couple of boys he recognized from his school. A shorter boy with blue hair, and two taller boys with spiky black hair and curly brown hair, respectively. He couldn’t recall their names at the moment, but he knew he’d seen them before. Asuma wouldn’t be able to remember why they caught his eye, nor would he remember making a conscious decision to follow them but follow them he did. It wasn’t very far to their destination, only a few blocks at most, and when they got there, the place was unassuming. Just a small storefront labeled “Card Capital” with ads for all kinds of trading card games. Asuma had never really played card games much before, but he decided to head in nonetheless. It was like entering an entire new world, with people smiling and laughing on all sides as he simply wandered, unsure of himself. After a couple of minutes, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“You’re a new face around here, interested in buying any cards?” Asuma turned to find a slim man with poofy brown hair and glasses that somehow hid his eyes, a kind smile on his face. “Sorry, I probably startled you. My name’s Shin, I’m the manager here at Card Capital.”

“My name’s Asuma, and I don’t know, actually. I just kind of wandered in here to be honest.” Asuma replied, wondering what exactly compelled him to come into this shop in the first place.

“Well, what do you think about trying Vanguard? It’s the most popular game right now, with something for just about everyone.” Shin gestured around the shop, where many different people: boys and girls, both younger and older than Asuma were playing what looked like the same game. “Maybe, I’ve never really played card games before, but I’m willing to give it a shot,” Asuma replied, deciding to get out of his comfort zone and try something new.

Shin seemed ready to show Asuma the basics, but suddenly there was a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Hey there newbie, you looking to play Vanguard? Because if so, there’s nobody better than me, Katsumi Morikawa! And don’t you forget it!” The spiky-haired boy from earlier was getting in his face, so Asuma stepped back and turned to Shin. “Is this loudmouth really the best?” Asuma thought back to his football days, where the loudest players were often the least skilled.

“Well, we haven’t had a tournament here in a long time, so it’s kind of unclear. But Morikawa, Asuma here hasn’t even played before. If you want to cardfight with him, you’ll have to let me teach him while you play.” Shin shrugged, used to Morikawa’s antics by now. The taller boy just grinned and laughed, sitting down at a table with his deck. “I’ll be here whenever Shin thinks you’re ready.”

Asuma stepped over to the counter, scanning his eyes over the cards. “I’ve seen guys like him before. Think you can help me take him out in my first game?” Shin pushed his glasses up, the lenses shining as he pushed a few boxed decks out in front of Asuma. “Take your pick of these trial decks. I’ll even let you have it for free, just this once.” Asuma looked over the different decks, from the blazing dragons of something called Kagero, to the shining white paladins of Royal Paladin, as Shin explained the clans of the game to him. “These clans are groups of units on the planet Cray, who come together for a common goal, like a team or an army.”

Asuma just didn’t see anything that clicked with him, until Shin pushed aside a deck of Shadow Paladins, and Asuma caught sight of a box with a purple design, and something inside him just pressed him forward to grab the deck. “Hey Shin, what’s this one? Spike Brothers?”

Shin looked over and smiled. “I should have realized you would like that clan, they’re a loose group of players from many teams that play the most dangerous sport on Cray: Gallows Ball. “Gallows Ball, huh? I think I’ll give them a try.” Asuma cracked open the box and looked at the first card, a unit called Dudley Mason. The aggressive, powerful giant on the card resonated with Asuma, and he decided to go sit across from Morikawa. “Alright Shin, how about you show me what exactly I’m doing here?” He said as he shuffled the deck.

“Well first, you need to pick a grade 0 from your deck and place it face down on the vanguard circle, the center one in the front row.” Shin pointed at the circles on the play mat, and Asuma picked a unit with a 0 in the upper right-hand corner. “Now, imagine. You and Morikawa have been transported to the planet Cray as spirits, too weak to fight on your own, but with the potential to ride a unit to gain strength. Flip your card, and call out ‘Stand up, Vanguard’!” Asuma almost laughed at Shin’s enthusiasm, but he did it anyway, a surprisingly clear image of himself and Morikawa on another planet appearing in his mind as he flipped over his starting vanguard “Stand up, Vanguard! Mecha Trainer” Asuma called, feeling himself bond with the mechanical humanoid, and seeing Morikawa’s unit, Lizard Soldier, Conroe.

**A/N: So that’s my first Chapter! I know it’s pretty short, but I just wanted to get something out there for a little bit of self-confidence. Feel free to let me know what you think!**


	2. Asuma's First Cardfight!

Chapter 2: Asuma’s first Cardfight!

Asuma felt a rush as he rode his first ever Vanguard, feeling the power that even a grade 0 brought to his spiritual form, before a tap on his shoulder brought him back to Earth, the card shop he was sitting in, and the opponent he was across from.

“Hello, Earth to space cadet? We’re supposed to be having a cardfight here!” Morikawa said, as he drew a card from his deck and grimaced. “Why couldn’t it have been a grade 3?” He whined, before placing a card on top of his vanguard. “Alright, I guess I’ll ride this one. Embodiment of Armor, Bahr.” As Asuma watched, the new unit emerged from Morikawa’s vanguard, a fierce warrior in red armor brandishing a huge scimitar. “I’ll move Conroe behind Bahr, and attack!” Morikawa shouted, and Asuma stared him down, not sure how to defend.

“Morikawa, you know you can’t attack on your first turn! Stop trying to scare a new player by breaking rules he doesn’t even know exist yet.” Shin scolded, and Morikawa backed down, a sheepish look on his face as he sat back and said “Alright, alright. My turn’s over. You’re up, newbie.”

“Ok Asuma, Morikawa just showed you the basics of a turn. First, you stand your units if any are resting, and draw a card. Then, you can ride a vanguard of a grade equal or one higher than your current vanguard and call rearguards of equal or less grade. Then, you can attack. Go ahead, try it for yourself!”

“I draw, and then I’m gonna ride,” Asuma paused, looking at the different units in his hand, until he decided he felt a stronger feeling from one of the cards. “Wonder Boy!” Asuma called, as he rode his grade 1 vanguard, feeling a surge in strength and speed as he powered up with the help of his new unit. “And I’ll move Mecha Trainer behind Wonder Boy. Next, I’ll attack you with Wonder Boy, boosted by Mecha Trainer.” He looked back at Shin as he turned his two cards sideways, indicating his attack. “That is how I do it, right?”

“Yes, you’ve got it. Just make sure you put the attacking units in the rest position until your next turn when they will stand up again.” Shin nodded, satisfied with the young man’s question. Asuma turned back to the table and said, “Alright then, I’m still attacking you.”

“No guard, so go ahead and check your drive trigger.” Morikawa said, and Asuma gave him a blank look. “He means turn the top card of your deck over, and if there is a symbol in the upper right-hand corner, that’s a trigger.” Shin said as he placed a hand on Asuma’s shoulder for a moment.

“Got it.” Asuma turned the top card over, but there was no symbol. “No trigger.” Asuma could feel his unit charge forward and slam into Morikawa’s, dealing his vanguard damage. Morikawa flipped the top card of his deck over. “Checking my damage trigger, but I didn’t get one.” He placed the card in the section of the mat marked ‘Damage Zone’. “Don’t think you’ve won just yet, I still need to take five more damage! And anyway, it’s my turn now.” Morikawa said gruffly before drawing a card. “Man, another low-grade card? Well, at least I can ride it. I’ll ride Dragon Knight Nehalem!”

Asuma could almost sense it as the spiky-haired boy’s new unit was revealed on Planet Cray: an imposing knight in black armor riding a huge dragon and carrying a flaming sword. Morikawa smirked and called his attack, which Asuma didn’t guard, and he flinched as he felt the dragon knight’s sword slam into Wonder Boy. “Damage check” Asuma said as he flipped a card, but there wasn’t a trigger there either. “You better be ready for my next turn, because I’m gonna go wild on grade 3!” Morikawa smirked as he taunted Asuma.

“We’ll see. First, it’s my turn. I stand and draw.” Asuma stood his vanguard and rear guard, then he drew for turn, seeing his first grade 3 unit: General Seifried. But this wasn’t the turn for grade 3. “I’ll ride Dudley Mason, the rising star of Spike Brothers!” Asuma called out as he rode, unsure as to exactly why, but feeling a surge of power as his vanguard changed to the larger, stronger unit. “I think I can do this. I call Dudley Monty and Dudley Phantom to rear guard!” He said as he placed the two cards in the column to the right of his vanguard, then he stared over at his opponent. “Let’s do this. Dudley Monty attacks your vanguard, boosted by Dudley Phantom! And with Dudley Phantom’s skill, Monty gets an additional 4000 power!”

“I’m going to guard, with Lizard Soldier Ganlu!” Morikawa showed one of the cards from his hand before placing it sideways in the ‘G’ circle between the two vanguards. “See that number next to the shield on the side of the card? That gets added to the vanguard’s power, and each guardian you call adds to that total.” Shin said, pointing to the shield value on the unit Morikawa placed. Asuma could already see it, a squat red lizard soldier appearing to shield his vanguard. “Dudley Phantom goes back to my deck, but let’s see you stop this one. Dudley Mason, boosted by Mecha Trainer!” The total power was 14000, and Morikawa didn’t guard it, so Asuma’s vanguard smashed his attack into Nehalem. “Drive check!” Asuma flipped his top card, revealing a blue marker. “I got a trigger!”

“It’s a stand trigger. That means you can stand one of your rearguards, and then add 5000 power to any unit of your choice.” Shin said. “Alright then, I’ll choose Dudley Monty to stand, with an extra 5k power. Then, I’m going to activate Dudley Mason’s skill. I can counterblast one and pick a spike brothers unit in my hand to put into my soul, then call another unit from my deck to rear guard! Uh Shin, what’s counterblast, and the soul?” Asuma paused from his confident speech to look sheepishly at the shop manager.

“Counterblast means you flip cards in your damage zone face down, equal to the number listed in the skill. The soul is the stack of cards under your vanguard, and soulblast means taking cards from there to the drop zone, where retired rearguards and guardians go too.” Shin pointed to each of the zones as he spoke about them, and Asuma nodded once he understood.

“Hello, I still need to damage check over here!” Morikawa called, before checking no trigger again. “Hmph, I’m still not going to lose to you.” He pouted after taking his second damage.

Soon after however, the teen had taken one more damage from Asuma’s rear guard attack, leaving him at three damage to Asuma’s one. He had, however, revealed a heal trigger on the second check, and Shin explained the rest of the trigger types to Asuma: draw, heal, and critical.

“Ok, my turn’s done now. Go ahead, Morikawa.” Asuma said as he looked over the cards in his hand, unsure of how well he could defend against the next turn of attacks. However, his opponent seemed to be unsure of himself as well. “Hey Shin, this isn’t my usual deck! Where are all my grade 3s?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that, I just slipped you a Kagero trial deck so Asuma here could play against an actual deck, instead of your unbalanced mess.” Shin smiled, but the gleam of his glasses even gave Asuma pause, and he felt bad for the noisy teen Shin’s gaze was fixed on. “Fine, but I want my deck back after this game, and if I lose it’s your fault!” Morikawa whined, before looking over his hand cards intensely. “Hmm, I think I’ll ride this one. Dragon Knight Jaral!” His vanguard transformed again, into another knight riding an even larger dragon, and he called rearguards to fill his left column. Morikawa managed to swing in and deal a damage with his rearguard, then he readied his vanguard to attack. “Boosted by Conroe, Jaral attacks for 15000!”

Asuma quickly looked over the cards in his hand, finding a way to guard with his trigger units. “I’ll guard with Kungfu Kicker.” He said before placing the unit on the field, summoning a small but feisty kicker to protect him. Morikawa looked at his deck “Twin drive don’t fail me now! That’s why my grade 3s are the best!” He looked over at Shin angrily. “I can do two drive check when my vanguard is a grade 3.” He flipped the first card. “Alright! A critical trigger! Plus, Jaral’s skill activates. He gains 2000 power whenever his drive check reveals a Kagero unit, so that’s 7000 power! My second check,” he paused before flipping the card. “Yes! It’s another critical trigger! I’ll give both effects to Jaral, and he’s coming at ya!” Asuma grunted in pain when his vanguard was hit, like he could actually feel Dudley Mason taking the hit from Jaral. “That’s fine, I’ve got three damage checks.” He said, but none of them ended up being triggers, meaning Asuma was pushed to five damage.

“Aw man, I didn’t finish you off, even with double critical triggers? Well you just wait, next turn I’m going to end this.” Morikawa smirked and leaned back in his chair. “Guess I just have to beat you this turn then, right?” Asuma said, a fire lighting inside him that he hadn’t felt since he was playing from behind in the final period of a tense game. “I stand and draw.” He knew what he had to do, just not quite how to do it. “Rise up and lead your forces to victory! The greatest strategist of the spike brothers! General Seifreid!” He said as he rode the imposing grade 3. “Now I activate Mecha Trainer’s skill. I retire it and counterblast one to search for a grade 1 or lower Spike Brothers unit and put it in my hand. I choose Dudley Dan, and then I call him to my rear guard.” Asuma placed Dan behind Seifried, a strategy forming in his mind. “Next, I’ll call Dudley Phantom behind Dudley Monty again.” Now, Asuma had two columns again, and he hoped his gamble with Dan would pay off. “Alright, first up is Monty, boosted by Phantom, for a total power of 20,000!” “Ugh, no guard.” Morikawa said as he checked for a damage trigger but didn’t find one.

“Ok, next up is Seifried, with Dan’s support! With Seifried’s skill, their total power is 17k, and with Dan’s skill, I counterblast 2 and put my last hand card into the soul to search for any Spike Brothers and call it to rear guard. I choose one more Dudley Phantom, and place it in the back row on the left column.” The play was risky, but if he pulled it off, Asuma would deal four damage in one turn, and win the fight.

“I’ll guard for ten thousand!” Morikawa said, placing two grade 2 units on the guardian circle. “Alright then, twin drive.” Asuma said calmly, placing his hand on top of his deck. These next two checks needed to go perfectly, but if he didn’t trust his team like he used to on the field, who could he trust? Asuma slowly turned the first card over. “It’s another Seifried! All right! Using my vanguard’s skill, I call this Seifried to the left column.” Asuma took a deep breath, then flipped the next card. His eyes widened when he saw what it was. “It’s Sonic Breaker, a critical trigger! My attack goes through, and that means two more damage for you!” Asuma nearly shouted as he smiled, which turned into a grin when Morikawa didn’t get a trigger on either check.

“It all comes down to this. My rearguard Seifried, boosted by Dudley Phantom. With the power of both of their skills, the total power is 23 thousand!” Asuma proclaimed confidently. Morikawa nervously looked over his hand cards, seeing that he only had ten thousand shield left. “Aw man, no guard. I have to bet it all on a heal trigger.” Morikawa reached for his deck, but when the card was revealed, it was a stand trigger. “Oh, come on! I can’t believe I just lost to a total noob! This must be your fault, Shin. Play me again, but this time with my real deck!” Morikawa demanded, leaning over the table as Asuma just cleaned his cards up. “I’m good, thanks. My mom will be expecting me back soon, so maybe tomorrow. I had a lot of fun though, more than I expected from a card game.” Asuma said with a calm but happy smile.

“Good to hear, but you’ll have to pay for any more cards you want here, ok?” Shin said, heading back behind the counter. “There are a lot more players for you to meet, and a lot of them are pretty good, so I hope we’ll see you soon.”

“I’ll definitely be back here again if I can have fun cardfights like that.” Asuma smiled and waved at Shin, before turning to head out, sliding his new deck box into his pocket. As he stepped out of the store, however, he nearly ran into someone. “Oh, I’m sorry!” Asuma said as he looked up at who it was, before falling silent as he met the cool glare of a tall boy with brown hair. “Be more careful in the future.” The unknown teen said, before heading into the shop. “Kai, don’t be rude!” Another voice called, and Asuma saw a blonde teen with a spiky haircut. “Hey, sorry about my friend there. He’s a good guy, just tends to be cold with people he doesn’t know. My name’s Taishi Miwa, but everybody calls me Miwa. I haven’t seen you here before, what’s your name?”

“I’m Asuma Kujito, and this is my first time coming to this store. Do you and your friend play Vanguard by any chance? I thought it was pretty fun.” Asuma responded. “Oh yeah, we play all the time. Kai’s really good at it too, so hopefully you’ll get to play with us sometime. Anyway, seeya!” Miwa waved and headed inside Card Capital, and Asuma turned away to walk home, a smile on his face as the sun set over the city. He broke into a jog, feeling happy and at peace with himself, not hearing any doubting voices in his head for the first time in a long time.

**A/N: Went a little longer on this one. Hopefully you guys enjoy how I write my fights, but if you don’t feel free to let me know! Here’s to many more chapters to come!**


	3. New Friends, New Opportunities

Chapter 3: New Friends, New Opportunities

The night after Asuma’s impromptu trip to the card shop, he couldn’t stop thinking about Vanguard. The way he could feel the units’ power, the strength and fluidity of their attacks, the stalwart willpower in the guardians. Everything felt right, like when he was leading his team to victory on the field back before he got hurt. “I have to go back and play again,” he thought as he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

“I wonder how good the players Shin mentioned will be. Plus, there’s that blonde guy and his kind of rude friend. I wonder how strong they’ll be. There’s so much I want to learn about Vanguard, from other clans to how other people play. I can’t wait to go back to Card Capital!” Asuma thought as he rolled over, looking out the window at the moonlit, clear sky. Then, the deck box sitting on his desk caught his eye. “Spike brothers. You guys are amazing, and I hope I can keep playing with you and leading you to victory.”

The next day, Asuma was sitting out in the courtyard at school eating his lunch by himself as usual, but he had changed somewhat from his usual routine. For instance, instead of reminiscing about the past, he was thinking of the future, wondering what kinds of cardfights he would have at Card Capital. The school day flew by, until finally Asuma could retrieve his deck box from his locker and head down to the shop. On his way there he passed by a tall, silver-haired girl who was heading the same way. He didn’t pay much attention to her at first, so distracted by his thoughts of fights and strong opponents that when he arrived at Card Capital he didn’t even notice her follow him in.

“Hey newbie, it’s time for our rematch!” Asuma didn’t even notice Morikawa until the loud boy was practically jumping up and down in front of him. “Alright, but only if you quiet down, there’s other people trying to play here too.” Asuma said as he held his hands up in a placating manner. “Let’s use one of the corner tables so we don’t disturb the whole shop, okay?” he asked as he headed over, setting his bag down and pulling out his deck for only the second time. Morikawa whined a little but finally followed, sitting across from Asuma “Fine, but with my special, personally-built deck there’s no way I’ll lose again!”

“It’s about time somebody kept him from bothering everyone” Asuma didn’t recognize the voice, and when he turned to see who said something he found the source. It was that girl he passed on his way here! “We don’t need our customers getting driven away by his constant yelling.” She was standing behind the counter wearing a red apron with the double “C” logo of Card Capital on it, her gray eyes cold.

“Come on Misaki, you know how intense cardfights can get!” Morikawa protested, but a single finger lifted was enough to silence him. “That’s never stopped the rest of us from being polite, you oaf.” The spiky-haired teen slouched after the reprimand, slowly turning back to the table and shuffling his deck and grumbling to himself. This continued all the way through the fight, with Morikawa complaining (quietly) about this girl whose name was apparently named Misaki. Asuma tried to take the fight seriously, but Morikawa’s deck was so stacked with grade 3s that Asuma ended up beating him while he was still on a grade 1 vanguard.

When Asuma got up from the table, he looked around and saw that there were quite a few people in the shop playing vanguard, but he didn’t recognize anyone, so he headed over to the counter to say hello to this new (admittedly cute but somewhat intimidating) girl. “Hi, I’m Asuma Kujito. Your name’s Misaki, right?”

She looked up from what seemed to be an inventory catalogue, giving a polite customer service-style smile. “Yes, that’s me. I work here, running the register, doing inventory, and keeping rowdy players like _him_ in line.” Misaki gestured over to where Morikawa was poring over his deck, complaining about the low grades and how he would need different grade 3s. “I’ve never seen you around here before, are you new?” she asked, and Asuma anxiously rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I just started playing yesterday, actually. I ended up really liking Vanguard, so I decided to come back and see what kinds of players there are here.”

Misaki nodded with a smile “I’m fairly new to playing myself, but I’ve been watching people play here for quite a while. What clan do you use? I’m sure we have some packs that might turn out to be useful.” Before Asuma could answer, however, the door to the shop slid open, and a timid-looking boy with blue hair stepped inside, followed by a shorter boy with insanely spiked up black hair. “Hey big bro Aichi, we have to cardfight again today, I want to see what you can do with more than one grade 3 in your deck!” The smaller boy piped up, before the middle-schooler timidly replied “Sure Kamui, but I want to try and tweak my deck first, the tournament is coming up after all.”

After their initial exchange, the duo headed over to the counter, the younger boy hardly noticing Asuma at all. “Hey Misaki, is the new set in? I really want to get some of those new cards!” Meanwhile, his shyer counterpart seemed to notice the purple-haired boy. “I’m sorry about Kamui, he’s very enthusiastic. My name’s Aichi Sendou, what’s yours?” Asuma smiled at the duality of these two and replied “I’m Asuma Kujito. You two wouldn’t happen to play Vanguard, would you? I’m really new and looking for some people to cardfight with.”

Aichi’s blue eyes lit up at the mention of a cardfight, and he quickly pulled out a deck box. “I love Vanguard, I’d love to be your opponent!” The two of them sat down at an empty table, shuffling their decks and placing their starting vanguards. It was at this point that Kamui finally noticed Aichi was missing and came running over to the table where he and Asuma were sitting. “Hey big bro, who’s this guy?” The elementary school boy slapped one hand on the table and pointed at Asuma. “My name’s Asuma. And who might you be?” He said, raising an eyebrow at Kamui’s antics.

“I’ll have you know I’m the great Kamui, and I’ve even beaten Aichi!” The short boy retorted, before Aichi intervened. “Come on Kamui, Asuma’s even more of a new player than me so go easy on him.” The blue haired boy looked across the table to Asuma. “Are you ready to play?” Asuma just grinned back at him, his hand already hovering over his deck. “I might have just started playing, but don’t think this will be an easy win.” The two drew their starting hands, and then said those magical words: “Stand up, Vanguard!”

**A/N: Hey guys, sorry for another short chapter, and that it took so long to come out. College has been crazy recently but catching up on the new anime has really reinvigorated my love for Vanguard. Hopefully you won’t have to wait too long for the next installment of Asuma’s story – his first cardfight with Aichi Sendou!**


	4. Asuma vs. Aichi!

Chapter 4: Asuma vs Aichi!

“Stand up, Vanguard!” The words seemed to ring through the air, despite the two players’ best efforts to stay quiet. Asuma flipped his card and feeling that familiar sensation of his spirit appearing on Cray, he breathed in deeply, feeling the aura surround him as he called out “Mecha Trainer.” Looking across the table, and the battlefield, he saw Aichi ride his starting vanguard, a small angel holding a trumpet. “Stardust Trumpeter, and then I ride Little Sage, Marron.” Aichi said it quietly in the shop, but on Cray Asuma could feel the resolve and hidden power behind his quiet demeanor ‘This guy’s probably stronger than he looks, I’ll have to stay on my guard.’ he thought to himself about the slender blue-haired boy.

Aichi’s turn was over, so Asuma looked at his hand, trying to decide what to ride. ‘I should probably try to put damage on him early, his grade 3 is definitely tough to put down if he’s strong with just one in his deck,’ he thought as he mulled over the units he held. “Alright Aichi, here I come! I ride Wonder Boy!” Asuma felt the now-familiar rush of power to his spirit as he took possession of the unit’s strength. As he looked to the other side of the battlefield on Cray, he didn’t just see Marron, but Aichi’s blue hair and eyes as well, like he was there on Cray physically as well as mentally.

“You can see it too, can’t you?” Asuma asked, pausing to talk after moving Mecha Trainer behind Wonder Boy. Aichi seemed startled, flinching slightly before looking up at his opponent.

“You mean the battlefield? Yes, I can see our units on Cray. I thought it was just in my head, but I guess you can imagine it too, huh.” The shy boy leaned back in his chair a little bit, seemingly lost in thought. “Oh great! Now we’ve got two scatterbrains to worry about!” Kamui yelled from his chair next to the table, crossing his arms and pouting. “Are you two going to play or just sit there daydreaming!”

Asuma lifted an eyebrow at the younger boy’s antics, but just relaxed and pointed behind him “I think you might want to keep it down, Kamui. We’ll get on with it I promise.” As the short, spiky-haired boy turned around, he noticed Misaki scowling at him from behind the counter, and immediately spun back around with his eyes wide in fear. Asuma smirked a bit, then smiled and waved over at Misaki, mouthing ‘thanks’. She nodded, but kept her usual cool demeanor, not even cracking a smile as she turned back to the register.

Getting back to the fight at hand, Asuma attacked Aichi’s vanguard, Wonder Boy slamming the gallows ball into Marron and dealing one damage, with no trigger showing on the attack. “Alright, you’re up, let’s see what you can do.” Asuma said as he ended his turn, eagerly awaiting Aichi’s first assault.

Aichi didn’t disappoint, smiling as he drew his card, then choosing his next vanguard. “Arise my avatar, Blaster Blade!” Asuma watched in awe as a knight in shining white armor, carrying an equally luminescent longsword appeared as Aichi’s next chosen vanguard. ‘ _That_ is Blaster Blade? He looks really strong, I wonder what he can do.’ He thought to himself, as the warrior leveled his blade at Wonder Boy, and Aichi’s nervous gaze became steely and confident.

“I call Knight of Silence Gallatin to rear guard, and Wingal behind Blaster Blade. Then, Gallatin attacks Wonder Boy!” A knight wearing a blindfold charged at Asuma’s vanguard with a power of 10,000 but thinking quickly he guarded for 5000 and stopped the attack. Aichi’s attacks weren’t finished however, as his vanguard raised his shining sword and leapt into the air. “Blaster Blade attacks your vanguard! With Wingal’s boost and skill, our total power is 19,000.” Asuma looked over the cards in his hand but couldn’t find anything to guard the attack. “No guard”.

Aichi looked to his deck as he checked for a drive trigger, but he didn’t find one. “No trigger this time, Asuma.” Asuma took one damage, his check not revealing a trigger either. On Cray, Wonder Boy clutched his side where Blaster Blade’s sword had left a gash, but Asuma knew better than to give up after just one damage. “Alright Aichi, here I come. I stand and draw, and now the battlefield rumbles as the rising star of Spike Brothers makes his appearance! I ride Dudley Mason!” He called for the strength of his unit as he placed the card, feeling the now-familiar rush of strength from the giant unit. He called Dudley Phantom to boost his vanguard, and then Treasured Black Panther and Machine Gun Gloria to the left column.

“My first attack is from Panther, boosted by Gloria. He’s swinging in at Gallatin, for 17,000!” Asuma smiled as he saw his unit charge across the field on Cray, Aichi allowing his rear guard to be taken out. ‘So, he’s saving guardians for his vanguard huh? I guess I’ll just have to give it my all.’ A fierce grin spread across his face as Asuma realized that someone like Aichi could give him a real challenge in the strategy department. “Next, Dudley Mason is charging in at Blaster Blade. With Dudley Phantom’s ability, his total power is 19,000!” Aichi seemed worried at first, but then discarded a card from his hand and placed a card with 0 shield on the guardian circle. “Flash Shield Iseult will protect me, with a complete guard!” Asuma watched as his vanguard’s powerful attack bounced off a forcefield created by Aichi’s shield-toting guardian, feeling the impact like running into a brick wall.

“Ouch, what was that?” Asuma said, rubbing his suddenly sore neck. Aichi looked up at him blankly for a moment, then responded. “Oh! Iseult, and other grade 1 cards with 0 shield can nullify any attack as long as you discard a card.” Kamui piped up from beside the table, “Yeah! My Twin Blader is the best complete guard though, he’s so cool!” Asuma nodded, “I’ll have to make sure to put a card like that in my deck as well then, it seems really useful” before returning Phantom to his deck and checking for a drive trigger, getting nothing again. “Well, it looks like that’s it for my turn.”

Aichi got a determined look in his eye, and after standing and drawing, Asuma could almost feel the mood shift as Aichi went to ride his grade 3 vanguard. “I call on the power of the proud white wings of faith! Ride! Solitary Knight, Gancelot!” Aichi called out, and on Cray Asuma felt a tornado whip up on the battlefield, before dissipating to reveal a proud warrior astride a pure white Pegasus, wearing shining silver armor and carrying a glowing broadsword. In addition, Aichi called High Dog Breeder, Akane to his open rearguard column, and used her skill to call Flogal to boost. He refilled the space left by Gallatin with Marron, and then started his assault.

Asuma managed to weather the storm, but after a critical trigger on his vanguard’s twin drive, Aichi managed to deal three damage in one turn, leaving Asuma at four while the now-confident blue haired boy had only one point of damage. Asuma could feel his connection to Cray waver as Dudley Mason fell to one knee, but he refused to give up, thinking ‘I’ve been through way worse than this before, I can manage to come back.’ After standing his units and drawing, he rode. “Leading the greatest team on Cray into battle, the commanding officer of Spike Brothers! I ride General Seifreid!” With a roar, the demon general emerged on the battlefield, steam billowing around him. Asuma used up the last of his hand to call another Mason to rearguard in his right column, and Gyro Slinger to boost Seifreid. He began his attacks with Black Panther, and after he managed to hit Gancelot, Asuma’s plan went into motion. “I activate Gloria’s skill, paying a counterblast to send Panther to the bottom of my deck, and draw a card. Next, Seifreid is coming at you, boosted by Slinger for a total power of 20,000 thanks to Seifreid’s skill!” Asuma smiled as his vanguard charged forward, and Aichi once again didn’t guard the attack.

His first drive check revealed a critical trigger, and he gave the power to Mason while allowing his vanguard to deal an extra point of damage, bringing Aichi up to four damage total. ‘Alright, now as long as I get a grade three I can finish this fight now!’ Asuma thought to himself, before flipping his second drive trigger. It was not to be, however, as the card revealed was Treasured Black Panther. Asuma sighed, but he could still swing with Mason. This time Aichi perked up, “I guard with Bringer of Good Luck, Epona!” Asuma could only watch as his last-ditch effort failed against Aichi’s guardian, and he clenched his fists in frustration. “That’s my turn. You’re up, Aichi.”

Aichi ended the game quickly, activating Gancelot’s skill to give him 5,000 extra power and an extra critical thanks to the Blaster Blade in his soul, and then the proud knight soared into the air, bringing his sword down across the chest of Seifreid twice, with both points of damage going through to hand Asuma his first loss.

Although he could feel the strength of his units slipping away while the battlefield dissipated, Asuma couldn’t help but smile through the disappointment. “That was quite the fight, I hope you’ll want to cardfight with me again soon.” He said while reaching across the table for a handshake. Aichi smiled and accepted while saying, “Of course! I had a lot of fun just now, and I feel like you almost finished me off on that last turn.” Kamui had something to add too, of course. “Alright bro! You managed to hold him off and show this guy who’s boss!” The shorter boy celebrated, and Asuma stifled a laugh at his antics while putting his cards away. “Hey, are you two actually brothers? You don’t look very alike to me,” he gestured at the height difference as well as wildly different hair of the two.

“You’re right, we’re not related at all. Kamui just kind of started calling me that one day, I’m not really sure why.” Aichi said with a sheepish grin, his hand on the back of his neck. “Today’s been really fun, but I’ve got to head home early, sorry Kamui” the azure-eyed boy apologized while he packed up, making the younger kid pout a little bit before he perked back up. “Is Miss Emi coming to get you today, bro?” His sudden hopeful tone made Asuma suspicious of his motives. ‘I wonder who this Emi is.’

“Sorry, she won’t be here either, I just have a really tough test tomorrow I need to study for.” Aichi said, finishing packing his bag before heading for the door. Asuma followed him out, and just after they exited the store he stopped his new friend. “Hey, I’ll see you around, and any time you want to cardfight, I’m more than willing.” Aichi smiled, and before heading off he replied, “Sounds like a plan to me, see you tomorrow Asuma!”

The purple-haired young man watched him go for a second before turning around and heading back into Card Capital. As he went in he almost ran right into two people standing just inside the door. “Woah! Sorry about that.” Asuma apologized as he walked around them. “Hey Asuma! Nice to see you again, man.” Asuma spun around and noticed just who he had run into. “Miwa, it’s good to see you too, but we’ve got to stop meeting like this.” Asuma grinned as he shook the friendly blonde’s hand, then turned to his brown-haired, tall friend. “And you must be Kai. Sorry about running into you before, and right now. We’ve never really met, my name’s Asuma Kujito.” His extended hand was met with a cold look.

“Be more careful in the future, please.” Kai said with a harsh tone, before stepping past Asuma, further into the shop. Miwa seemed embarrassed but managed a smile. “I really am sorry about him, I promise once you get to know him he’s not like this, at least not all the time.” He gave a weak laugh before heading off to sit across from Kai, with Kamui hovering around them.

Asuma stared after the two for a moment, thinking ‘I wonder what’s up with that guy Kai’ before turning to the counter and Misaki. “Hey Misaki, sorry about Kamui earlier, and I probably could’ve been a bit quieter myself.” She looked up with her usual cool expression, and when her light blue eyes met his for a second Asuma felt his heart thump a bit, so he quickly bowed, almost smacking his head against the desk. He could’ve sworn he heard her giggle, but by the time he looked back up she was her normal self, no sign of a smile on her face.

“Don’t worry about it, I just give Kamui a hard time when he gets too loud for the other regulars here. Everybody who comes here knows how intense cardfights can get, so I don’t blame you for getting into it. Speaking of your fight, if you’re looking for complete guards I would recommend this Spike Brothers booster set, you might even find a couple of other interesting cards as well.” She slid a basket with some packs across the counter, and Asuma looked at her, more than a little surprised. “How did you know I was about to ask about those?” He said as he pulled out his wallet and handed over the money to buy a couple of the card packs.

“I remembered you mentioned them, and I know you’re very direct, so I got them ready while your game wrapped up.” The silver-haired girl said while she typed the transaction in the register. “And you shouldn’t let Kai get to you, once you get into a cardfight he’s just like everyone else.” Asuma nodded quickly as he took the packs, smiling at her. “Thanks for the advice, and if you’re ever up for a fight yourself, just let me know ok?” To his surprise she smiled and said, “I’d like that, getting to fight myself is a nice change of pace from just watching everyone else.”

Feeling his face flush, Asuma quickly turned and uttered a hurried, “Thanks!” before sitting at a table to open his new cards. He spent the better part of the next half hour taking cards in and out of his deck, trying to decide the perfect mix for equal offense and defense. Eventually, he was confident enough to head over to the table where Kai was currently playing against Kamui. “Kai, let’s have a cardfight!” He said with more confidence than he felt, and Kai turned to him and in his usual monotone said, “Sure, this one’s about over anyway.” Kamui protested, but Kai silenced him just by holding up a finger and quietly saying, “Dragonic Overlord attacks your vanguard.”

Kamui sputtered for a couple of seconds before hanging his head and sighing. “No guard, Kai.” Kamui checked his damage and found a stand trigger, but on the sixth damage it wasn’t the trigger that would matter, so he just packed up his cards and got up from the table, grumbling about “stupid Overlord and its stupid skill.” Asuma sat across from Kai, ready for his third cardfight of the day. “Imagine it.” Kai said, and Asuma furrowed his brow at him. “I’m sorry?”

“I said, imagine it. If you can, that is.” Kai repeated, before placing his starting vanguard. Asuma did the same, and Miwa interjected, “Kai come on, don’t try and intimidate him already!” while leaning back in his chair. “It’s fine, I think I know what he means,” Asuma said while placing Mecha Trainer face down, before he and Kai said those immortal words. “Stand up, vanguard!” “Stand up, _the_ vanguard.”

**A/N: Wow! I really tried to get this chapter out before 2018 ended, but that didn’t quite happen, sorry! Rest assured that I’ll make good on my promise to put out a new chapter each month this year, more if I can make it happen. To everyone that’s enjoyed Asuma’s story so far, thank you so much, and I hope you’ll keep reading all the way through 2019!**


	5. Kai and PSY

Chapter 5: Kai and PSY

“One more fight, just one more!” Asuma protested as he sat across from Kai, six damage on his side of the field, as the taller boy started to put his deck away. Kai stared back at him, unmoved. “We’ve already gone 3 times, I have nothing else to gain from fighting you again.” He held up the final card left on his field, the imposing, almost terrifying Dragonic Overlord. “Until you figure out how to get past my vanguard, the result will always be the same.”

Upon laying eyes on Kai’s finishing card once again, Asuma couldn’t hold himself back from flinching a bit, remembering how the relentless flames washed over his units time and time again, Overlord standing, attacking, and standing once more until there was nothing left of his units, as bravely as they might struggle.

“See? With that kind of fear in your eyes, you’ll never reach my level. You’re better off fighting for fun, with people like Morikawa over there.” Kai jerked his head to the side, where indeed the rowdy guy was in the middle of his own fight with Kamui. “Come on Kai, we both know he just recently started playing, there’s no reason to be this harsh. Besides, Aichi-”

“That’s enough Miwa, I was just leaving anyway. Your name is Asuma, right? I suggest you find another hobby.” Kai stood up and started walking to the door. Asuma clenched a fist, his frustrations with himself and that feeling of self-doubt starting to worm back into his mind. But before he could think on it too much, his body practically reacted on its own, as he stood and almost threw himself in front of Kai. Asuma’s purple eyes flared with the competitive spirit he used to feel before a tense playoff game, and he stared up at the aloof brown-haired boy.

“When I do something, it isn’t just a hobby. I give my all, every time. You might think I can’t grow, but come back in a week, and at the shop tournament I’ll show you exactly what I’m made of. You got that, Kai?” Before he realized it, Asuma had stepped forward and was almost yelling in Kai’s face, one hand gripping the collar of his jacket. Kai seemed as calm as every other time Asuma had seen him, however, and simply stepped back and pushed Asuma’s hand away.

Kai sighed, and just seemed bored when he responded, “If it makes you happy, I already planned to compete here. If you think a week will make you strong enough to give me more of a challenge, go ahead and enter. Otherwise, don’t bother.” With that, he brushed past Asuma’s side, and silently walked out the door.

After a short pause, Asuma realized the rest of the shop had stopped playing, watching his confrontation with Kai. “Hey, what’re you all lookin’ at, huh?” Miwa thankfully jumped in, waving his hands a bit as he stepped in front of a grateful, embarrassed Asuma. “I’ll see you around, Asuma.” The blonde boy said apologetically, before slipping around him and out of the shop as well, as everyone else just quietly went back to what they were doing. Asuma sheepishly went back to the table and packed his things, before heading towards the door. Before he could fully leave, however, he heard something. “Hey.” Startled, Asuma turned around, only to notice Misaki standing behind the counter, watching him.

“Sorry for causing such a disturbance Misaki, I shouldn’t have let my emotions get the better of me.” Asuma looked down, unable to maintain eye contact with her. He couldn’t stop thinking about what Kai had said, and how foolishly he had made a challenge without any sort of training set up or any idea on how to get better. He was broken out of this downward spiral at the silver-haired girl’s words, however.

“Kai acts tough, and he’s very good. But what Miwa was trying to tell you is that Aichi beat him, during his first cardfight. He’s not unbeatable, and I plan to take him down a notch myself next week.” Asuma looked over behind the counter and spread out on a lower table was Misaki’s deck, and she was switching cards in and out without even looking at them as they talked.

“You’re not anywhere close to the only one who wants to win the tournament, so put your anger to work. Just promise not to cause any more commotion like that, or I’d have to throw you out.” She smiled at her declaration, leaving Asuma unsure as to whether she was serious or not about throwing him out, and reeling from the revelation that somebody who seemed as inexperienced as Aichi could take down Kai, while he himself just got smashed in three consecutive fights.

“I promise, Misaki. I’ll head out for today now, that’s probably for the best.” Before she could respond, he turned on his heel and nearly sprinted out the door, heading for home like he was being chased. Barely even remembering to breathe, Asuma burst through the door of his family’s small home, giving his mom a passing greeting as he headed upstairs to his room.

His thoughts were cloudy and unorganized as he threw on some shorts, a t-shirt and one of his windbreakers before departing again as quickly as he had arrived, shouting, “Bye! Be back soon!” while running down the street in the opposite direction of Card Capital, heading downtown.

Running usually gave Asuma a sense of release, of being free like the wind, going where he pleased and having no worries. This time felt different. Rather than losing himself in the rhythm of his shoes hitting the pavement, the feeling of his breathing and the sensation of the wind on his face, Asuma was stuck in his own head, watching his losses to Kai on repeat. He spent the better part of an hour agonizing over each move, every ride and call. He ran further into the city than usual, weaving through the pedestrian traffic of people heading home from work. Eventually, Asuma ducked into an alleyway to escape the crush of the crowds, resting his palms on his knees, breathing hard and letting his sweat race down his shoulders and arms.

All he could hear was the sound of his own breathing, his heart pounding in his head as he slowly stood up straight, breathing deeply and trying to calm himself down. “Come on, you’re better than this. Pride before a fall, remember? Next time he’s going down”. Asuma thought to himself, clenching a fist and smacking it against his thigh in frustration. As he turned to walk back out of the alley and head home, a light caught his eye, and he spun around in surprise.

Down at the end of the alleyway, where he was sure there hadn’t been one before, a neon sign in red, blue, and yellow simply proclaimed, “PSY”. “What the hell?” Asuma said softly, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes for a second, but even after that, the sign, along with a door under it, was still there. Wary but curious, Asuma dried his face off on the hem of his shirt before walking slowly up to the door. There was no handle on the door, just “push” in red lettering. Asuma pressed a hand to the door but paused, uncertain.

“Go forward, my vanguard.” Asuma wasn’t sure where the voice came from, it didn’t even seem like it came from the alley, but as he turned to check, the pressure from his shoulder pushed the door open, and he stumbled sideways into the near-darkness beyond. The door closed behind him, with a soft thump. Asuma looked back, but in the dim light couldn’t make out even the door’s outline, much less some kind of handle. He turned away from the door, and seeing the source of the dim, greenish light ahead, he walked forward, his footsteps echoing softly around him.

After a few yards, the hallway opened into a broader room, and Asuma looked around, seeing row upon row of small pillars of light. “What is this place?” he whispered to himself, staring at his strange surroundings. As he approached the first of the rows, Asuma investigated the light, and saw what looked like a card floating there! As he took a closer look, the design was very familiar. In fact, the card floating in the light was a copy of General Seifried! “Is this some kind of card shop?” Asuma wondered aloud, walking down the row and spotting many familiar units, from Juggernaut Maximum to Asura Kaiser, and even Gancelot! As he stared at the units, almost unable to believe his eyes, there was yet another voice, this one a bit softer, and from the end of the row. “Well this is an unexpected development.”

“Hello? Who’s there?” Asuma asked, and as almost as an answer, three silhouettes appeared at the end of the row, one small with two huge tails of hair, and the other two taller, one with long, almost mane-like hair, and the tallest having shorter hair than either of those. “I’m sorry, do you work here? If I’m not supposed to be here, I can leave right away.” Asuma nearly stuttered as he spoke, feeling confused and a bit intimidated by these mysterious people, this mysterious place, and his circumstances in general leading up to this.

He heard what could only be described as a giggle, and then a different, higher pitched voice replied “Nothing of the sort! Welcome to Cardshop PSY, Asuma.”

**A/N: And on that cryptic, cliffhanger note I leave you guys! Sorry that this is coming out so late in February, hopefully I’ll be able to work more on the March chapter. I know this chapter is short, and doesn’t really fit my usual style, but I wanted to try something. Hopefully you guys enjoy it anyway and keep looking forward to our boy Asuma’s story!**


	6. More Questions Than Answers

Chapter 6: More Questions Than Answers

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Asuma tilted his head at the three people in front of him. “No silly, but I’m sure you’ve heard of us!” The same high-pitched, almost lilting voice replied, and the shortest of the group stepped into the light. It was revealed to be a girl, looking like she was about Kamui’s age, and his height as well. “I’m Rekka, and these two sticks in the mud are Kourin and Suiko! Together, we’re Ultra Rare!” Rekka posed and threw her arms out to either side, beckoning her two companions forward.

These two seemed to be more along the lines of high school students, Kourin with mid-length blonde hair and Suiko’s light blue cut short. “Um, okay? I’m really sorry but none of this is ringing a bell.” Asuma gave a nervous half-smile, wondering what exactly was going on. He didn’t have much time to think, however, as Suiko mumbled something under her breath then declared “As enthusiastic as Rekka seems to be about welcoming anyone who wanders in here, this is supposed to be an exclusive Vanguard shop. I believe you wandered in here by mistake, yes?” Her disapproval was clear on her face and in her steely gaze, and Asuma thought to himself “ _What in the hell is happening here? This store just shows up in a random alley, then I’m supposed to believe it’s a VIP card shop just for Vanguard? And who are these three anyway?_ ”

As if she could read his mind, Kourin cut through the stretching silence, stepping in front of the rest of the trio and staring Asuma down. “This might be confusing for you, but honestly just forget you saw this shop, okay? You don’t even have a deck on you, so we can’t see if you’re up to our level. From what I’ve seen so far though, it wouldn’t matter even if you did have your units with you. I don’t know why you were able to find this place, but you should leave. _Now._ ”

Getting tired of being talked down to, Asuma stood his ground in front of the imposing blonde, standing eye to eye with her for a moment. “Look lady, I may not know who you are or what this place even is, but what I do know is I don’t like people that think they’re better than others. Just because I didn’t do some test to get in here doesn’t mean you can judge my skill! I’m going to be the best I can be at Vanguard, and your pretentious attitude can’t stop me.” Unknown to him, as Asuma spoke from the heart, remembering people that told him he’d never make it big back when he was a nobody in junior high and not the star player on the top club team in the region, his eyes began to faintly glow.

“Woah there tiger, Kourin can get a little feisty but there’s no need to start anything.” Suiko gently intoned, stepping between her more aggressive sister and the purple-haired young man. Realizing that once again he’d let his anger get the best of him, Asuma stopped for a moment and shook his head, clearing away the clouds of anger that had come over him again today.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten so heated. I’ll be leaving now.” Asuma quickly shot out an apology, turning towards the door as he did. Not hearing any complaints or assertions otherwise, he hustled out of the dimly-lit space back out into the alleyway. ‘ _Damn, I wonder what was up with that place. And why am I so angry today? It’s not like I haven’t lost before, or never had doubters.’_ Attempting to knock the thoughts loose with a quick shake of his head, Asuma walked to the end of the narrow dead-end street and turned the corner towards home. Had he stopped to look back, he would have noticed the entrance to PSY gone, leaving only a nondescript brick wall in its place.

Later that night, after having a nice but quiet dinner with his parents, Asuma laid back on his bed. Rather than working on any schoolwork or even taking cards out or adding them to his deck like he usually would, he simply stared at the ceiling. “ _What in the world happened today? From that weird shop to the voice I heard in my head to just having less control over my emotions.”_ Before he could get too deep in his musings, however, Asuma remembered what Rekka had said about how he should have heard of them. Sitting up in bed, he flicked open his web browser on his phone and searched up ‘Ultra Rare’.

Immediately, he was flooded with images of the three young women in white and gold outfits, links to their music videos, and articles about concert dates and tournament appearances. Opening one article about the group, he read a few paragraphs. “ _So they’re some kind of Vanguard idol group? I guess that’s why Rekka assumed I knew who they were, but that still doesn’t explain what was up with their shop. And what’s up with these ‘concerts’? It looks like they only ever perform at big Vanguard tournaments.”_

His next search was much less fruitful, with ‘Card Shop PSY’, ‘Vanguard store PSY’, ‘PSY shop’ and ‘Ultra-Rare PSY’ all turning up nothing he was looking for. Articles about nearby card game shops, some about psychics and fortune tellers, and of course another flood of info about the three idols. “Damn, guess it couldn’t all be that easy.” He muttered, dropping his phone on his chest and laying back, folding his arms behind his head. Feeling the exertion of his near-frenzied run earlier start to come back, Asuma allowed the sweet release of sleep to wash over him.

Near-instantaneously, his eyes were back open. But a quick glance around was enough to reveal he wasn’t in his room. He didn’t even know where he was, because the surroundings were so blank. In every direction, nothing but darkness save for a single point of light, directly in front of him. Asuma started to reach out for it, but as he did it flashed, and then more lights began to appear, on all sides these pinpoints of light began to glow, until it became clear they were not mere lights, but stars. After a few moments, Asuma realized he was floating in space, looking at a planet below him. Taking a few quick glances, he could tell that none of the familiar continents were there, but he didn’t think it was any planet he’d learned about in school.

Before Asuma could continue his thoughts, he heard an unfamiliar, serene voice speak to him, as if directly into his head. “Who are you, child. You are not one of my chosen ones, yet you hear the voices and appear here before me now.” Asuma tried to look around for the source of the voice, but his head would not respond. However, it proved unnecessary as a gigantic form emerged from behind the globe of this strange planet, describable only as some sort of…space dragon. “Um, my name is Asuma Kujito. Who, or what, are you?” Unable to turn away, the only thing he could think to do was make small talk with what was quite possibly some sort of deity. “ _Great. Super cool, me.”_ He did not have time to really process the situation, as before he could keep overthinking the dragon responded. “I know your name, child. That is not what I am interested in. I need to know, **who you are**.” As Asuma watched, seemingly paralyzed, this planet-sized being seemed to reach down with an absolutely massive talon and the impossibly tapered point pressed against his ghostly forehead.

As this…dragon…god(?)…thing touched him, Asuma’s already-open eyes shot open again and he sat up in bed, sweating like crazy and with the last thing that whatever that was said burned into his mind. “Who I am? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He asked his silent, unhelpful walls.

**A/N: Well, this is a bit of a diversion from the main plot, huh? I hope you guys enjoyed me coming back with what I hope is a hell of a cliffhanger! Don’t expect to see to much of this mysterious figure for a little while, though I suspect some of you already know who this giant space dragon is. For now, just know I’ll be working on getting closer to that so far elusive Card Capital shop tournament, and how our purple-haired boy fits in! -SidewaysRiku**


	7. Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 7: Calm Before the Storm**

Though Asuma was initially pretty freaked out, he brushed off the dream and went through the rest of his day mostly normally. What that weird space dragon had said stuck in his mind though, leaving him wondering what it meant by ‘who he is’. “Jeez, I can’t believe I’m letting a stupid dream distract me so much.” Asuma complained as he headed out to the school’s grounds for lunch. His absent-mindedness caused him to wander places he normally wouldn’t, and as Asuma turned a corner he noticed Misaki sitting on a bench by herself under the shade of a tree: she was reading what he assumed to be a textbook, and had a packed lunch sitting next to her.

“Yo, Misaki!” Asuma called out, waving to the reserved young lady as he walked towards her, waving. She looked up and gave him a small smile. “Hi Asuma, did someone take your usual spot? I’ve never seen you on this side of the grounds for lunch.” She slid her lunch closer, making a spot for him on the bench. Asuma shook his head, a bit embarrassed. “Well, not exactly. I’ve just been kind of spacing out today, and I ended up wandering over here” he admitted as he took the seat Misaki offered. Even as she went back to her book Misaki kept up the conversation, “You’re probably nervous, right? The shop tournament is coming up, and I remember one of the teachers mentioning there’s an exam next week. You have been studying, right?” She raised an eyebrow, and even though she didn’t make eye contact Asuma felt like his soul was being stared through, and he quietly grabbed a notebook out of his bag instead of the deck box he had been reaching for. ‘ _Ah man, with starting to play Vanguard and meeting all these people I completely forgot about studying!!’_ Just then, a realization hit him.

“Wait a minute, I’ve just about never seen you around before I went to Card Capital, how do you know where I usually eat, and that I have an exam when I’m pretty sure you aren’t in my class?” Asuma turned to Misaki with this mini-revelation. Without even looking up, she tapped her temple with one finger and nonchalantly stated, “I remember everything I see or hear, even if it’s just once. Nothing super special.” Asuma raised an eyebrow, thinking, ‘ _She’s got a perfect memory? That explains her choice of deck, OTT is pretty much perfect for someone with that kind of ability!’_ But even as he opened his mouth to voice his surprise, she lifted a single finger in his direction. “I don’t like to talk about it, trust me it’s not as much of a gift as you think.” Slowly closing his mouth and turning back to his lunch and book, Asuma spent the rest of the lunch break studying and eating, then the rest of the day wondering what made Misaki so melancholy about her perfect memory.

Finally, the final bell of the day rang and Asuma headed out of Miyaji, his bag hanging loose off one shoulder as he started jogging towards home. His head was swimming with many different thoughts, from what his dream meant, to why Misaki seemed so gloomy, to how much he needed to study. “Ah man, guess I can’t make the trip to CC today, I need to buckle down.” Asuma thought out loud, pushing the door to his house open. Most of the rest of the night was nothing special, spent studying and doing chores. Asuma was surprised to get a text from his old friend Nishiyo, one of the other stars of his former football club, asking what Asuma had been up to since his injury. Asuma answered vaguely, unsure as to how his old friends would take the information that their old teammate had taken up a card game as his new pastime, even one as almost universally popular as Vanguard. Later in the evening, Asuma started wondering why he hadn’t heard from any of his new friends, before smacking himself in the forehead upon realizing he had somehow managed to give none of them any way to contact him. He ended up writing a note to himself which read, “give out contact info at CC” before he turned in for the night, dreaming of Vanguard, homework, and homework Vanguard, a bizarre concept where Seifried threw a giant notebook at Asuma, who woke up just before it smacked him in the head.

Shooting up in bed in a cold sweat, Asuma shuddered at the thought of “Dr. Seifried” smacking him with a gigantic homework assignment. “Well, that was terrifying.” Asuma swiped his hair out of his face and swung his legs over the side of his bed, just taking a quick look at his deck box before getting ready for the day with a quick shower and breakfast, hug for his mom and out the door for school he went, bag slung over a shoulder and deck slid into a pocket. He had the sun in his face and the wind in his hair, overall a good feeling for the day. School flew by, he ate with Misaki again with only minimal scolding for his study habits, mostly small talk. Afterwards he practically flew down the steps, quickly catching up to Misaki on her way to Card Capital: he passed her by with a smile, a wave, and a quick “See ya there!” Asuma’s grin only widened as he felt the pavement under him fly by, running harder than he had in a good while, eating up the usual 20-minute walk to Card Capital in under 5. Slowing down as the sliding doors and bright yellow banner came into view, Asuma took a deep breath and headed into the card shop.

As the doors slid open and he stepped inside, the first thing Asuma noticed was the small cluster of people around one table that included Morikawa and Izaki, as well as Miwa. ‘ _Wonder what all the fuss is about.’_ Asuma thought, walking down the aisle of tables to get a better look, and to his surprise, Asuma saw Aichi sitting at the center of attention. It wasn’t because of a fight; everyone seemed to be looking at just one of his cards. “Woah, I’ve never seen that card before!” “Is that even in any of the sets out right now?” These were just some of the chatter that Asuma heard, before he stepped through to the front of the circle. “Hey, what’s going on Aichi? I’m gone for one day and suddenly you’ve got a brand-new rare card?” The blue-haired boy turned, looking a bit startled. “Huh? Oh, hey Asuma yeah Morikawa, Izaki and I went looking for new places to cardfight, and we found this super cool shop! I lost to one of the owners, but they were really nice and gave me this card for free.” He smiled brightly and showed Asuma the card, depicting a noble-looking swordsman on a horse with a mane of fire. “This is King of Knights, Alfred!”

Asuma’s eyes went wide at the flashy-looking card. He asked, “Looks pretty cool, where did you get it?” Just as Aichi was about to respond, Morikawa butted in, “We went this craaazy card shop man! It was run by idols, but they turned out to be super good at Vanguard, and Aichi lost to the most wonderful girl I’ve ever seen! But then when I tried to go back after we left, it was gone!” Asuma flinched from the sudden shouting, taking a step back from his loud acquaintance. “Woah, what? That sounds insane, a disappearing shop?” He thought for a second, then had a realization hit him like a truck. “Wait, you said it was run by idols? The shop you went to wouldn’t happen to be called PSY, would it?” Asuma excitedly inquired, stepping a bit closer to Morikawa. “Uh, y-yeah, why? You heard of the place before?”

“I actually went there once, earlier this week. But uh, those idol girls, Ultra-Rare? They kicked me out for no reason! All I did was walk in!” Asuma explained what happened when he met Suiko, Kourin, and Rekka. “Wait, you said it was over by the first monorail station? When we went there PSY was over in the mall downtown. And they threw you out? When we went, they showed us around and Kourin even had a fight with me.” Aichi said, puzzled, once Asuma finished his story. Miwa just leaned back in his chair, “Man, I’ve got to get out more. All you guys are out here meeting idols and finding strange shops with rare cards, while I’m just having some fights and opening packs with nothing good in them!” The blonde boy laughed and stood up, walking towards the door. “I’m headed on an adventure of my own, I’ll let you know if I can be the third to find this mysterious PSY.” He winked and spun away from the group, nearly walking straight into Misaki as she arrived at the store.

Meanwhile, Asuma had noticed a flyer for the shop tournament. “Hey Aichi, are you planning on entering the tournament with your new unit?” He asked while pointing at the flyer. The blue-haired card fighter looked up from his card, seemingly having been lost in thought. “Huh? Oh yeah, that’s tomorrow right? I’ll definitely enter the tournament, I just have to do some fine tuning with my deck first.” Asuma smiled and stood up, gently smacking his younger friend on the shoulder. “You’ll have to go through me to win it you know!” He grinned and gave Aichi a thumbs up before walking over to the counter. “Hey Misaki, do you have the registration forms for-” Asuma was cut off when she pushed a piece of paper directly into his chest. “Here. Make sure you fill it out correctly, alright?” Misaki gave a half-smile and held up her deck, with CEO Amaterasu shining straight at Asuma. “Don’t think you’ll be able to run through the bracket to get straight to Kai, Asuma.” Seeing her determination filled Asuma with a similar emotion, and he gave her a big grin. “Looks like I’m building quite the collection of rivals. I’m looking forward to fighting you.”

After filling out his registration form, Asuma ended up buying some packs to see if he could build up a new strategy for the tournament. Opening them at one of the tables next to Aichi’s, where he could see his friend shuffling cards around in different piles, obviously concentrating on making his best deck. Asuma got his own deck box out and started opening packs. The first few didn’t have anything special in them, but as he got down to his last three Asuma found some interesting cards, and what he found in his last pack made his eyes light up. “I think I’ll be able to make quite the impact on this tournament with your help.”

**A/N: Ladies and gents, we got there! Next chapter marks the start of the Card Capital Shop Tournament! With tough competition all around from rivals old and new, will Asuma be able to rise to the top? I thank all of you for waiting patiently for me to get off my ass and write this story. I love doing it and I love Vanguard, so I hope you’re all ready for a slew of fights coming your way! Make sure to drop a review if you have something you want to see me do and leave any pairings you want to see! It means so much to me that people actually care about what I write, and I look forward to continuing Asuma’s story. -SidewaysRiku**


	8. Today's Cardfighting Day! Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time for the tournament! Y'all ready for this? *Space Jam music*

**Chapter 8: Today’s Cardfighting Day! Pt. 1**

Asuma’s eyes flew open, and he sat up with a sharp inhale. One thought rang like a bell through his head: today’s tournament day! He hastily prepped for the day, grabbed his deck and practically bounded down the steps, nearly running into his mom on the way. “Where are you headed in such a hurry, sweetie?” She asked, hands on her hips and head tilted in curiosity. “Well, I’ve been playing Vanguard at Card Capital recently, and today’s the first chance I have to enter a tournament. Is it ok for me to go?” While his mom hadn’t shut down Asuma’s interest in Vanguard, he wasn’t sure how enthusiastic she’d be for him to be out all day.

Tapping a finger against her chin, Asuma’s mom seemed to consider it for a moment before pointing it directly at his chest. “I like seeing you happy again, what with being so down in the dumps after you got hurt. You go and have fun today, but your homework and chores come first from now on, ok?” She poked him playfully and Asuma gave her a grateful smile and an enthusiastic nod. He slipped past her and grabbed a sandwich to eat on the way with a hurried call of thanks.

Mei watched her son practically sprint out of the house and smiled to herself, glad that his passion had been relit. After watching how heartbroken he was from his injury and having him mope around the house going through the motions for almost three months, seeing her son glowing again filled her with warmth. “Maybe I should go see him play, after all it’s part of my job description to support him, whether he likes it or not!” She pulled out her phone and searched up Card Capital, wondering just what a card game tournament would be like compared to the roaring stadiums of his football days.

Asuma’s windbreaker rippled in the wind, the crisp morning air ruffling his hair and filling his lungs while he pumped his arms and his legs ate up the distance with long strides. His shoes pounded against the sidewalk and his bag bounced on his back, the sun warm against his face. His mind wasn’t on how nice the day was, instead his thoughts swirled around in a jumbled mess. The excitement and nerves brought on by playing in his first tournament, the immense doubt and quite possibly fear at the prospect of fighting Kai again. But stuck down deep inside, past the cold knot in his chest, there was a resolute confidence. The kind developed by being in tough spots time and time again, the kind that swells just when you need it most. Asuma might not even have noticed it himself, but this small courage resonated much further than he could have ever suspected.

When the logo and signature sliding doors of Card Capital came into view, Asuma finally slowed to a walk before stepping inside, noticing right away that the amount of people in the shop was more than double the usual turnout. He saw the usuals: Aichi, Morikawa, Izaki, Kamui and the rest, but also many he didn’t recognize. He turned to the counter, said hi to Misaki and gave the Sub-manager a pat on the head before looking around, not seeing Kai or Miwa there. “If you’re looking for Kai, he’s almost always late to events.” Asuma turned in response to Misaki’s comment. “So, it’s that obvious I’m nervous about him, huh?” He asked, and she nodded in agreement before shuffling through the tournament registration papers, looking concerned. “Hey Aichi, you haven’t submitted a form yet! Get over here and fill one out before the tournament starts please!” Misaki called over, and the blue-haired boy quickly got up and headed over.

Asuma, meanwhile, gave Misaki a small wave and a smile, before starting to walk towards his other friends. His attention was grabbed, however, by the large gap in the middle of the room, where Shin was cleaning up something. “Hey manager, what are you working on there?” Asuma asked, peeking around the floppy-haired, bespectacled man’s shoulder. Shin turned towards him and pushed his glasses up, the shine so concentrated Asuma couldn’t even see his eyes! “I’m glad you asked! These are the new, official, Card Capital Standing Fight Tables!” The manager stepped to the side with a flourish, unveiling two small tables raised to about waist height, with Vanguard fields built into the top. “With these bad boys you can stand with your units, so it should feel more like you’re right there on the battlefield!” Shin crossed his arms and smirked, pride practically radiating from him. Asuma was starting to look over the tables when a loud smack came from the shop counter. “Just in time, Aichi.” Misaki said, right when Asuma turned to look and he saw the blue-haired cardfighter standing with his arm outstretched, his registration form planted firmly on the counter. Aichi turned to his friends and gave them an embarrassed smile, and he only got redder in the face when he noticed the whole shop staring.

Thankfully, just at that moment Shin stepped up to a microphone stand by one wall of the shop, tapping on it and making everyone cover their ears with annoyed looks. “Hello everybody! Welcome to the Card Capital shop tournament! Right up here is the bracket, so as soon as I get done here you can find your matchups and times.” He quickly ran down some tournament rules like deck size, being on time and all the usual courteous things. Asuma perked up when Shin stepped to the side, and thanks to being able to see over most of the crowd, the purple-haired boy spotted his listed round one opponent: Morikawa. “Huh, I was hoping for more of a challenge, but I guess it’s just the first round.”

“Hey! Asuma! Don’t think you’ll be getting past me so easily, got it? I put some special cards in my deck just for this tourney, so I’ll be the one that wins it!” The loud boy shouted across the shop, putting a thumb to his own chest to emphasize his point. Asuma gave a wry smile back to him, lifting his deck out of its box and holding it up to Morikawa. “You’re not the only one that did some fine-tuning you know, so you’d best not mess up.” Just as the two were walking towards each other with a crackling tension in the air, a certain blonde-haired goofball stepped between them. “Hey now, chill out, both of ya! For one thing, if you want to win this thing you know you’ve gotta go through Kai, not just each other, heh.” Asuma nodded to Miwa, then turned to see the Overlord-wielding man himself leaning against the wall, staring at the tournament bracket as though he could set fire to it with a look. _“I really can’t get a read on that guy, what’s going on inside his head?”_ Asuma wondered, before realizing he was getting distracted and returning to the task, and the pest, at hand.

“Alright Morikawa, let’s get this over with.” Asuma gestured toward one of the standing fight tables, idly shuffling his deck until his spiky-haired opponent arrived and they could cut each other’s cards before drawing their starting hands. “My cards are fine, do you need a mulligan over there?” Asuma asked, seeing that Katsumi was already agonizing over the cards he’d drawn. “Well, I mean, yeah! I can’t ride a grade 3 right away or I’d be set up perfectly!” Morikawa stammered for a moment before shuffling his whole hand back as Asuma rolled his eyes, mumbling “Another day, another hand full of useless grade 3s for him.” But surprisingly, once he had redrawn Asuma’s opponent looked confident. “Well, since it looks like you’re ready how about we Stand Up, Vanguard!” The purple-haired teen called out as Shin and the others looked on, the first round of the Card Capital tournament finally under way!

**A Few Turns Later**

“Finally, a grade 2! Now this game’s really getting started!” Morikawa declared, riding his vanguard and attacking Asuma. “Morikawa you do realize that won’t hit, right? Seifreid has 10k power and your vanguard’s only 9k. No guard.” Asuma raised an eyebrow. After Morikawa checked no trigger, Asuma looked over at the damage: 1 for him, and Morikawa with 4. “Alright, I stand and draw!” Asuma looked over his full hand, and with a nod called down a full field of units ready to attack. A few well-placed soulblasts later, they were shaking hands on the game. “You know, I don’t think you’re a terrible player Morikawa. But your deck building really could use some work.” Asuma just smiled and shook his head, knowing he probably wouldn’t get through to his hardheaded opponent. True to form, Morikawa launched into a minutes-long tirade about how Grade 3s are the best and if only just once his deck would work the way he wanted it to, he’d show everyone just how strong he is.

“Looks like the first round is just about wrapped up everybody, just one game left!” Shin announced, and Asuma looked on as Kai stepped up. The whole shop seemed to be more interested in his opponent though, a guy Asuma had never seen before. “Hey Misaki, just who is this guy Kai’s playing?” Asuma asked, but she just shook her head. “He won the shop tournament last year, but doesn’t play here regularly and pretty much only won because Morikawa really was the strongest cardfighter here at the time.” When Asuma gave her a stunned look, she just shrugged and pointed at the fight, where it had been revealed that the mystery man also played Kagero.

What followed was an absolute slaughter, with Kai not even using Dragonic Overlord. He pulled out a new unit called Vortex Dragon instead, using an ability called Megablast to retire all of his opponent’s rear guards at once and attack for game. The knot in Asuma’s stomach was back, knowing he’d eventually have to face that overwhelming force if he kept winning. But first, there were a few rounds left to play. Asuma easily overcame a Royal Paladin player in the second round and after watching a close game unfold between Aichi and…their history teacher Mr. Mark pretending to be a ninja(?!) he moved on to face Misaki in the quarterfinals.

“So, let’s put that perfect memory of yours to the test, shall we?” Asuma said with more confidence than he felt as they shuffled their decks and placed them down to fight. Misaki’s gaze back across the table turned icy cold for a second, and he almost flinched before she just smirked and said “I hope you’re better at cardfighting than remembering to study.” Rolling his eyes, Asuma just readied himself and they flipped their starting vanguards. “Mecha Trainer!” “Lozenge Magus!” Asuma had the first turn, so he looked over the cards in his hand and carefully considered his strategy. The new units he’d added could be helpful in defeating Misaki, but he’d have to be careful and time his final attack almost perfectly! “Alright, I’m riding Wonder Boy, and moving Mecha Trainer back. Your move, Misaki.” Even just performing his usual opening with Wonder Boy felt tense, and even in his image of Cray he felt nervous when usually there was just the strength and confidence of his units and vanguard.

After Misaki’s short first turn of riding Oracle Guardian Gemini and attacking, Asuma realized that if he wanted to make his plan work, he’d need more power on defense. So a 10 thousand power grade 2 seemed like just the thing. “Alright, I ride Dudley Monty!” The usual surge of energy was there, but besides calling a second Monty to rear guard he didn’t make any plays. After two successful attacks, Asuma’s turn was over. Across the table, Misaki’s mind was racing. ‘ _What’s he doing? Usually there’s something more to his grade 2 turn thanks to Dudley Mason and just calling two units with no abilities and attacking doesn’t seem right! What are you planning, Asuma?’_ But on the outside she didn’t let it show, riding Oracle Guardian Wiseman and calling in two columns of attackers. Asuma let two attacks through and guarded against her vanguard’s assault, and with that limited information she still wasn’t sure what he was doing.

_“_ Wow those laser eyes really do sting, Misaki! But I’m far from out of this fight. Now come on, great commander of the field! General Seifried!” Asuma called out to his main grade 3, starting to get back into the rhythm of the fight now that he had arrived on Cray. After calling a Dudley Phantom to the left column, Asuma smiled at the card he’d drawn this turn. “Now for one of my new recruits! Get out there, Dudley Marshall!” Asuma called the grade 1 to his back row, where its 6k power could supplement Dudley Monty’s. “That’s not all, when Marshall is called to the field I can soul charge if I have 3 or more Dudley units!” Taking 2 cards from the top of his deck and putting them in the soul, Asuma smiled and declared his attacks for the turn. Not surprisingly, Misaki put up a strong defense, intercepting and guarding so that even his vanguard’s attack wouldn’t get through unless he got a trigger! “Come on Seifried, I know I can always count on you.” Asuma said, willing himself to victory as he checked his twin drive. The first card was no trigger and he felt his heart fall, but then the second check was a critical! “Yes! Smash through, Seifried!” The rush of extra strength a critical brings sent electricity through the massive demon’s body, and when he threw a purple football of energy it blew apart Misaki’s defenses.

“Three damage to two now, not bad right?” Asuma grinned over, enjoying himself even through the nerves. Misaki had her brow furrowed, looking over her cards with an intensity Asuma hadn’t seen before. He’d noticed how pretty she was before, but with this new fire Misaki looked positively badass. She looked up and smirked, making his heart skip a beat at the fiery smile. “You may have the lead for now, but I’m pulling it back right now! Calling upon the power of the morning star, I ride the goddess of the sun, CEO Amaterasu!” On Cray, even Seifried had to shield his eyes at the overwhelming light emanating from Misaki’s newest vanguard. A tall, slender woman with long hair and a flowing kimono floated gently down from the heavens, leaving Seifried/Asuma transfixed for a moment while her other units were called down, and Misaki activated both Amaterasu and Battle Sister Cocoa’s skills to look at the top card of her deck, sending both to the bottom. Then, she called down Silent Tom to curtail Asuma’s defenses before going on the attack! After Tom hit him hard to move Asuma to 3 damage, Amaterasu’s sun became a shining glare. “Here it comes Asuma, Amaterasu’s attacking your vanguard!” Misaki declared, and Asuma decided he needed to _take_ a chance. “No guard. Come at me, if you dare!” He gave a confident thumbs-up, and Seifried flexed in defiance of the goddess’s sun laser.

His confidence was met with a steely gaze and Misaki’s twin drive. “Critical trigger! Looks like I’ll be taking the lead, and I won’t relinquish it easily.” Her second check didn’t reveal a trigger though, so after a draw trigger appeared in his damage checks Asuma breathed a small sigh of relief, easily able to guard against Misaki’s other attack thanks to the extra power from the trigger. But still, Seifried was staggered, and the damage was nearly enough to finish the fight. “Damn, you almost got me. But I’ve got a couple more tricks up my sleeve!” Asuma stood his units and drew, for what was almost assuredly his last chance to win. “Here we go. I ride, Unite Attacker!” The brand-new card he’d gotten from a pack recently held the same power as Vortex Dragon: Megablast! But the powerful ability had a high cost: 5 counterblast and 8 soulblast! With only 5 soul to use, Asuma might have been out to dry but he still had some cards to play. “With Unite Attacker’s ride skill I soulcharge one card, and he gains 2k power! And then, I call another Dudley Marshall, and use his skill to soulcharge twice more!” With a full field of units ready, Asuma began his assault. First, Dudley Monty swung in and took out Silent Tom, and then he attacked Misaki’s other interceptor with his double Marshall column. “Alright Unite attacker, show me what you can do!” His ogre vanguard stood tall, charging in at Amaterasu with a massive shoulder tackle. “Not so fast, I guard!” Misaki placed down the critical trigger she’d gotten last turn to guard against it, and as his vanguard struggled against the green barrier Asuma looked desperately to his twin drive. “First check…no trigger. Second check…Critical trigger!” Asuma almost jumped for joy when he revealed the bright yellow symbol, and Unite Attacker broke through Amaterasu’s defenses to deal two damage!

“If you thought that was it you’re sorely mistaken, because Unite Attacker and I are just getting started! Megablast!!” Asuma practically shouted as he paid the cost, all of his counterblast flipped and entire soul sent to the drop zone. “I check the top 5 cards of my deck and I can call any Spike Brothers units I find to the rear guard, standing!” He quickly found and called out the units he wanted, leaving two full attacks ready and willing to go straight for Amaterasu. “Let’s go Dudley Mason, swing in and take her out!” His units charged, but Misaki was ready, just barely able to muster up the guard. “Looks like you’re running out of resources, and I’ve got the chance to take you out. Let’s go Seifried, finish this fight! Final Force Pass!” His rearguard Seifried charged up his energy ball, launching it straight toward Misaki’s vanguard.

But Misaki never seemed to waver, and she discarded a card before calmly placing down her last unit in the guardian circle. “Battle Sister Chocolat will nullify your attack.” The soaring feeling Asuma had gained from his careful planning and execution of the megablast quickly fell away as Seifried’s attack was blown apart by the tiny nun’s barrage of gunfire. “Well, I guess that’s my turn.” Asuma said, his hand empty and resources depleted. Misaki wasted no time in standing and attacking with Amaterasu, finishing him off with a blinding blast of sunlight. As the final point of damage went through, Asuma could feel his chance to compete at a higher level slipping through his fingers and it hurt. He quickly pushed his cards back into his deck and nodded to Misaki. “Looks like I couldn’t quite get the best of you after all. Good game!” It was a genuine remark, but still he could feel his heart sinking. “I thought you might be holding something back, so I held onto my perfect guard for just such an occasion.”

Shaking his head with a rueful smile, Asuma just turned to look at the bracket being updated. The final four of the tournament were all people he knew well: Aichi, Kamui, Misaki, and of course Kai. “Go take Kai down a peg or two for me, will ya?” He asked her, putting out a fist that she gave an uncharacteristically enthusiastic bump to. “Yeah, I’ll see what I can do!” She smiled so brightly Asuma would’ve sworn up and down it was like the light of Amaterasu had come to Earth. But before he could think of something to say, he got mobbed by Miwa, Morikawa, and Kamui all giving him crap for losing. By the time he managed to extricate himself with a series of self-deprecating comments, Shin had called a break for lunch. “We’ll finish the tournament after everyone gets a chance to eat, see you all in an hour!”

An hour felt like an eternity, even though Asuma used the time to talk with Aichi, Kamui, and Misaki about their fights in the tournament and how they were feeling about their decks going into the semifinals, as well as finally eating the sandwich he got at home. When Shin finally reconvened everyone, Asuma was left to watch as two incredibly close fights unfolded. Aichi and Kamui came down to the last damage, with the young fiery Nova Grappler player coming out on top. At the same time, Misaki was stringing Kai along with careful defense. Her plays went on so long that she was able to stack her deck with skills enough to bring out double triggers twice in a row, but somehow Kai always had the right cards to guard. In the end, Dragonic Overlord’s flames overwhelmed the sun goddess, and the final match was set.

“You alright, Misaki? That looked like a really tough fight.” Asuma asked, resting a hand on her shoulder as she walked away from the fight tables. She started to answer, but Kai gave a passing remark as he headed to his showdown with Kamui, “Don’t flatter yourself. I just let you run yourself ragged before burning down all your defenses. And thanks for showing me just what you’re made of, new guy.” Asuma almost threw a punch, but instead just reminded himself that being an ass back to Kai seems to just fuel him. Misaki looked over, concerned, but he just sighed and looked at his deck box. “I hate to say it, but it feels like Kai’s right. I wanted to beat him in this tournament, but I couldn’t even get that far.”

The final match was practically a slaughter, with Kamui not even getting a chance to put Asura Kaiser’s signature Finishing Hold ability to use before his units were burned away and Kai had won. Shin announced the winner and congratulated him, but Kai just gave his usual cold look, seemingly right at Asuma who felt like an icicle had been stabbed into his stomach, freezing his ambition and shattering it. “I’ve got a special surprise for everyone, too!” Shin announced, gathering up the final four of the tournament “This year, the top four players of our tournament get to form the shop team, and go to the regional tournament!” There were some surprised, excited murmurs and chatter while Shin made his announcement, but it felt like salt in an open wound to Asuma, who had just missed out on making the team.

But just as the celebration was dying down, and everyone was starting to pack up, another voice came through the mic. “Nah. I don’t need teammates if they’re going to be this weak. If you want someone more this shop’s level, take that guy instead.” Heads turned and Asuma looked up from his internal pity party, right into Kai’s smug gaze. Kamui started expressing his exasperation and Asuma took a rage-filled step forward, but Kai just dropped the mic back to Shin and started to walk out. “Hey! Kai!” Asuma shouted, spurred on by what he thought was pure instinct, before the other young man could leave. “You think you can just walk away because you think nobody here’s on your level? Give up on a team before they even have a chance to grow?! Not a chance! Get back here and fight me, and if I win you have to stay!” Asuma’s throat felt raw, his face hot and heart racing from what was practically a declaration of war. He held his deck out, Seifried standing defiant as the bottom card, looking right at Kai as the Kagero master just smirked. “So, you really think you’re strong enough, even after your performance today? Don’t make me laugh.”

“I’ll put Vanguard on the line. If I lose, I’ll quit Vanguard. You wanted me to prove this isn’t just a hobby, right? So I’m throwing the gauntlet down, Kai. Beat me here and you’ll never hear from me again. But I know that won’t happen, because after seeing you act like such a dick, my Spike Brothers will never let you win!” Asuma wasn’t even sure why he said it. It wasn’t like the cards could influence the game, but it felt right. He’d later learn that for the briefest moment there was a glint of light in his eyes, like a tiny purple galaxy, and that gave Kai pause. “Huh, I think you might just have become interesting, kid. Let’s fight.”

Despite his friends’ protests, Asuma barely heard them as he stormed back to one of the tournament tables and waited for Kai to slowly saunter over. They stared daggers at each other, knowing the game about to play out would decide the fate of Card Capital’s regional team as well as Asuma’s time with Vanguard. Placing down his starting vanguard, Asuma felt like something, somewhere was responding to his rage and desire for vengeance, as well as his burning desire to finally beat Kai. Misaki, Aichi, Kamui, and Miwa looked on, and Cray itself in Asuma’s image seemed to shake, as each fighter flipped up their grade 0s. “Stand up, _the_ Vanguard!” “Stand up, **my** Vanguard!”

**A/N: I missed writing this story, and I’m so happy to finally be able to bring it back. I look forward to hearing what you think, and I’ll see you next time!**


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